Monday, November 3, 2008

I recently ran into an acquaintance who dyed her hair from blonde to brown. After some idle chit chat, I commented to her how much I loved the new look (it was awesome). She said thank you and I asked why she opted to go dark, which was her natural color. For her, it was financial because highlights are more expensive than full color, and I agreed with her, because well, that's why I dyed my hair dark again.

So here is the kicker.

Before she parted she said, "yeah I never liked dyeing my hair anyhow, it just makes someone so fake." I asked if she was kidding and she looked at me, dead serious and said...no. Waiting for me to reply, I laughed it off saying, "well I guess I'm fake, totally plastic."

I thought about this for a while after she and I parted ways and honestly, I thought it was kind of a bitchy comment. Just because someone dyes their hair, that doesn't make them fake. Not all of us were born with a gorgeous head of hair with flawless color and no gray. I have been dyeing my hair for, ohhhh, about 10 years. I hated my dark brown hair my entire life and opted for eight years of white-blonde highlights.

Dying my hair this very unnatural color was expensive but worth it because I wanted to be blonde, like I was as a baby (heck I didn't even have hair until I was 2).

Finally, about two years ago, I couldn't afford Chicago-priced highlights anymore so I dyed my entire head medium brown, almost my natural color. Yes, it was a big adjustment, but it was worth it and now I love my dark hair. I hate paying to get my hair done regularly but because of my premature gray, I want to dye it.

Some people are totally comfortable with a few gray strands, but not me. I would prefer to cover those up as much as possible, especially as the number of them increases each year. For me, it's a self-esteem boost and one less thing to focus on and worry about. That's not fake. I can count on one hand how many people I know who have never ONCE colored their hair. And yes, I'm jealous of them. I am not very secure with my gray hairs, yet.

Maybe I've overreacted to her comment, but as fake as I may be, at least I don't make narrow-minded comments.

How about all of you? Do you color your hair, if so, why? Covering gray is a big incentive for me!

Election Day note:

Also, tomorrow is Election Day so I hope everyone will be turning out to the polls (especially if you didn't vote early) to participate. I'm anticipating long lines at my polling station so the iPod will be charged and ready to go!

The more exciting news I have is that tomorrow night, I will be down in Grant Park for the Obama/Biden rally. This is a HUGE event for the city and something truly historic. I'm thrilled and excited to be going.

I'll be tweeting live from Grant Park (another awesome reason to follow me on Twitter) and have a full recap with pictures on Wednesday, since I won't be home until super late on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Here's hoping I can put a matching outfit together for work on Wednesday.

58 comments:

I used to dye my hair, but stopped because it was just too much money. I'm sure when I start greying, I will start dyeing again. I don't understand how that makes you fake. Does wearing make-up make your fake? What about shaving your legs? People who make weirdly judgmental comments like that are silly.

Oh my gosh that is a rude statement! I mean people could say that about a lot of things! If you wear high heels does that make you a fake, cause your not as tall as you present yourself! If you wear Make does that make you a fake! I mean peeps could say that about so many things! I could go on forever here!

I dye my hair. But honestly? I wish I didn't have to. So expensive! But it's pretty impossible to go back after dying your hair, so here I am. It doesn't make someone fake! It makes someone more themselves, because instead of being stuck with a look you don't necessarily like, you change it, to make it more "you".

Anyway, I dyed my hair a lot in high school and undergrad. In high school I did it to be different (like the time I had fire engine red highlights put in thus shocking most of the school) and in college I did it because my roommates were always dying their hair. I've dyed it a few times since then but it's been months and months and months since I've done anything. I just hate spending the money and, honestly, I haven't been truly happy with the results since the red highlights over 10 years ago (I looooved them).

Several people in my office are going to the rally tomorrow night. On one hand I'm sad to be missing such a historic event but on the other, well, it *is* kind of scary. I'll just have to live vicariously through blogs and coworkers. I hope you have fun and it's as historic and monumental as we all hope.

I've never dyed my hair because it's dark brown and the idea of bleaching it scares me. I would love to try a different color though if it weren't so expensive/take so much time. Really, I'm just lazy and I feel like the color of my hair matches my personality and coloring. I don't think dying it makes you fake though.

I too used to over - process. I was blond, auburn anything furthest away from my naturally almost black hair. Then I had my second child and a few years later I started getting (gasp!) white hair and decided that keeping up with the lightening was a full time job. So I sucked it up. Bought a kit and have a very dark brunette. The funny thing is is I get more comments on the dark hair than I ever did on the colored. So cost, convenience and white intruders were what finally won me over. Go Brunettes! Seriously! If that makes us fake.....FAKE on!

Sounds like your acquaintance is not yet secure with her "natural" color and covers it up by putting down people who choose a different look.

The first time I dyed my hair was the summer after seventh grade. I used that "A Touch of Sun" spray. It looked totally horrible and my mom made me grow it out in order to learn my lesson. I used a box dye to go blonder my junior year of high school, which was ok for a while, then it started to grow out and we had to have it fixed for my senior pictures. My third year of college I went on study abroad in the summer and chopped it all off and went red. My mom was SCANDALIZED. I touched up the red with a box once, but then decided to go back to being a blonde and had it bleached out and redyed close to my natural color. I've had highlights a couple times since college, but have been natural for a while now.

I've been contemplating chocolate brown lowlights, but ehhhh. I don't know if I want to mess with a good thing.

As someone who has a few gray strands of hair, I can understand your reasoning. Will I dye it, probably not since I keep my hair so short that it isn't all that noticeable aside from the bit in my goatee.

You should read my pre-election day post. I actually gathered up the courage to write a letter to Senator Obama.

I haven't seen my natural hair color since I was 12 years old! Its been dark blonde, fire engine red, purple, blue, black and just about every color in between. In the past few years I have kept it a really, really dark brown, but sometimes highlight it just for fun. My best friend is a hairstylist so she does it for next to nothing.

As for the expense of it, if you are just doing an all over color you can go to a Sally Salon store buy the color and developer and do it yourself. Grab a few friends and have coloring parties!

I, too, have been dying my hair for the past 10 years. It started with some harmless dying- here and there, but then it got ugly and I was addicted. I've been just about every color. I didn't start professionally dying my hair until 2 years ago. Now I won't go back to box color (mostly because it doesn't look as good or get the coverage). But I've cut back on going professional and just opt for one color too.

I dont think it makes anyone fake though. I mean, if dying your hair is fake- than so is putting on makeup.

my hair has been so many shades- blonde, black, streaks of pink, purple and red. I consider it the opposite iffahe; I see it as expression. I'm going this weekend fir blonde, with black and ble streaks and can not wait!

my hair has been so many shades- blonde, black, streaks of pink, purple and red. I consider it the opposite iffahe; I see it as expression. I'm going this weekend fir blonde, with black and ble streaks and can not wait!

I've been an unnatural blonde for fourteen years now and I don't think that makes me fake. I think I was a blonde trapped in a brunette's body and therefore with blonde hair, I feel a bit more true to myself rather than fake!

And I admire your restraint for not putting a fist through that girl's face.

My name is Tampa and I am a hair dyer.Seriously, I dye my hair and love it!If I didnt I would have the Bonnie Raitt, Lily Munster gray streaks.And at 36 how attractive is that??Fake? You betcha, but I likey!I consider it aftermarket add-ons!It just makes me better.

I highlighted my hair for the first time after my college boyfriend decided he'd rather sleep with other people. It was one of those "new life, new haircut" deals. Then I got bored, and let it grow out. Then I worked for a salon and they highlighted my hair RED (I have super dark hair) because I had grays (well, whites...) and because I wanted a change. Now I color it really dark,almost my natural color. It covers the white better. I started to get white hair when I was about 19.

It's not fake at all to dye your hair. I personally don't because my hair is dirty blonde and I have natural highlights that I love (except in the winter) and I'm scared dying it will make the natural prettyness go away, but when I start getting grey hair, you can bet I'll be dying my hair!

That is a really general (untrue) blanket statement. I can see how you could be put off by that. I think when people start judging others like that, they are usually insecure/jealous and want to feel like what they are doing is best.

I used to color my hair all the time, but then I had an experience where I went to a salon and had to sit through highlights TWICE (this was about three hours) because she didn't do them right the first time, and I still ended up paying $80 or so for it. After that I just let it grow out. My hair is a weird in-between brown and blonde color, so it's only a matter of time till I color it again. I want to choose a color I can maintain on my own but haven't decided on it yet. Longest. Comment. Ever. Awesome.

I wonder if this girl put her foot in her mouth because she didn't realize you dye? having never known you with another color, I'm not sure I would have known if you hadn't told me because your color suits you so well. just a thought. ;-)

Whoa nellie! I think you may have taken the comment a little too much to heart. Obviously I wasn't there to hear her first-hand, but my guess is that she was referring to herself (not you)...and maybe she meant "fake" as in...she didn't feel like herself with her hair dyed so drastically. I wouldn't know, since you know I'm that friend on your one-hand who doesn't and hasn't ever dyed her grays. But I think you're probably getting yourself upset over what was probably intended as a harmless statement. But I walk around with a head full of gray, so what do I know. ; )

I don't know anyone that does not dye their hair, at least parts of their hair. My natural color is a light to medium brown, but I dye it blonde. I don't think that makes me fake. I look better as a blonde.

If this girl thinks dying her hair makes her fake then does she not wear makeup? It is the same concept according to her rules of fakeness. ( i have no idea if fakeness is a word)

Wow. That was kind of a mean thing for her to say. I don't dye my hair. Quite frankly a Filipino with blond streaks would just be scary. :) When I was 16 I had 2 blue streaks in my hair, but that doesn't really count.

When I was in high school I knew a girl who had gone prematurely grey (and her hair was jet black, so it was obvious.) I ran into her a couple years ago and she was totally blonde. Hmmm....I guess I didn't have much of a point. Oh well.

The Office--what are they doing?! I was sorta out of it last week, but I thought the last episode sucked. Its obvious they are using different writers and I'm not happy about it. Also, Pam not being there is really odd. I hope she's back soon. Another thing that bugged me last week was that they were not in the office. I don't mind them venturing out every once in awhile, but it doesn't make sense for the crew to be with Jim and Pam when she's meeting his brothers. Maybe I'm just being too picky? At least I still have 30 Rock Thursdays.

Hm. Back before I started dyeing my hair about 9 years ago, it was blonde with red on top and dark blonde underneath. I've done major highlighting, gone dark, gone bleach blonde, but in the last couple of years I've been leaning back toward the strawberry blonde. It's not EXACTLY my natural color, but it's close enough. And I can do single-color at home - so much cheaper than highlights!

Here's the thing. Dyed hair IS fake. It's not natural, not real. But, just because someone's hair is fake doesn't make the person themselves fake. To say that is incredibly judgmental and drastically premature. Having said that, I've been dying my hair for 15 years to cover the gray (since college)! And I'm totally fine with it - I don't feel one iota of fake.

Yeah, not a fake, because really, you're coloring your hair brown, which is your current natural color.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a true blonde these days. I was blonde as a kid, but started dying it once it turned brown. Now I'm back to my brown just because I got sick of doing it every month!

Good for you - from brown to londe - that doesn't happen often, So it is unique!

That's SO annoying! I totally dyed my hair in college. First, to do something rebellious (some red streaks that didn't look as badass as I'd hoped but still were still pretty cool when all was said and done) then to cover up my rebellion. Then, after a few months with highlights and a breakup, I decided that I wanted my hair super dark.... Now, finally, after all of that, it's back to it's original color...but that doesn't mean it will stay that way! It totally doesn't make you fake at all--it's only fake if you claim to BE a natural blonde!

You're obviously not a fake. If I were to go prematurely grey, I too would probably do something about it. Anyway, it's fun to experiment, right? (I say this though I have been too scared to ever dye my hair because I LOVE my natural color).

i don't think your fake. i've been dying since i was 12 because i wanted to keep my blonde hair (started going dark about 10 years old) and ofcourse my daddy didn't tell me no. and after my divorce i went with a drastic change and started dying my hair my natural color of a medium/dark brown. ofcourse i've had greys comming in since i was 16 so that's a great incentive to be 'girly' and use walmart boxed dye. (cuz i'm a cheap ass)

i am thinking of going total black. i think i would look great with black hair... still debating over it tho. i'd have to keep it maintained instead of letting it grow roots out when i am too lazy to dye it and keep it up (like right now! lol)

I used to love dying my hair. I welcomed the change. The only reason I stopped was because I felt I was damaging my already thin hair. Now I do it once a year, usually a couple shades darker than my normal color.

Upload your pics of last night, lady! Right after it was announced that he won, I made sure to check your twitter. It was exciting to watch on TV so I can't imagine actually being there! :) I'm so ecstatic that he won. President Obama!

I had every colour of the rainbow in high school, from bleached blond, to fire engine red, to black. Now, just plain brown-- but sometimes I colour it a few shades darker.Fake? Maybe if you above the age of 18 with bleached blond hair. Otherwise, I just kind of see it like an accessory, really!

Add me to the people you can count on one hand. I've never dyed my hair or had highlights. Mostly because I wouldn't be bothered to keep getting it redone and keep it looking good. But I don't think that makes you fake!!!

Dying your hair does not make you a fake. Personally, I don't think an Asian with blonde hair looks especially natural, but it's not my business, either. If that woman is happy with her hair and how it looks, then I'm happy for her, sincerely. She's still a real woman -- maybe even more so, if she's happy.

I get lighter blonde highlights maybe 3-4 times a year. It's expensive, but nothing makes me feel more pampered than getting my hair done. It's a special treat that I indulge in.

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Jessica. 20-something blogger/young professional in Chicago. I love shopping, movies, pop culture and purses. I do love purses. This blog is a random sampling of my life in the city so hold on tight and enjoy the adventure :)

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